Pacific Legal Foundation

The Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) is a public interest law firm in the U.S. that champions libertarian values. Its mission is to safeguard and advance individual and economic freedoms through legal action. PLF lawyers offer free legal assistance to those in need, submit amicus curiae briefs, and engage in administrative hearings to defend property rights, ensure equal treatment under the law, uphold free speech and association, promote economic liberty, and maintain the separation of powers. The foundation has represented clients in 14 cases at the United States Supreme Court, as detailed below. As a non-profit entity recognized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, PLF does not charge for its legal services. Instead, it relies on contributions from individuals (53%), foundations (17%), and associations, small businesses, and corporations (17%) for funding. Aside from attorney fees awarded by the court for winning cases, the organization does not receive government funding.

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Federal investigation into TJ admissions revives national concern over K–12 racial discrimination

2 weeks ago | pacificlegal.org | Nicole W.C. Yeatman

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has opened a Title VI investigation into Thomas Jefferson High School’s admissions policy—a 2020 policy that parents, teachers, and alumni challenged in court as discriminatory in a case litigated for three years by Pacific Legal Foundation. Last year the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the Coalition for TJ case over strong objections from Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.
Board game companies sue Trump administration over unconstitutional tariffs

1 month ago | pacificlegal.org | Nicole W.C. Yeatman

Board game companies Stonemaier Games, XYZ Game Labs, Spielcraft Games, Rookie Mage, and Tinkerhouse Games are suing the Trump administration over its tariffs, which President Donald Trump set at 145% for most products manufactured in China. Nearly 70% of board games are made in China, making the China tariff an “existential” threat to the American board game industry.
Ninth Circuit considers first grader’s free speech in ‘any life’ drawing case

1 month ago | pacificlegal.org | Nicole W.C. Yeatman

Did a California school district violate the First Amendment when it punished a first grader for writing “Black Lives Mater [sic] … any life” on a drawing and giving it to a friend? That question was before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in oral arguments this week. Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Caleb Trotter argued the case of B.B. v.
Did President Trump break the law by firing FTC commissioners?

2 months ago | pacificlegal.org | Josh Robbins

On Tuesday, March 18, 2025, President Donald Trump summarily fired two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission.
Rhode Island town seizes family’s land in eminent domain scandal

2 months ago | pacificlegal.org | Nicole W.C. Yeatman

A shocking eminent domain scandal is unfolding in Johnston, Rhode Island: Last week, the Town secretly took possession of a family’s 31-acre property, only notifying the owners afterward in a letter demanding they “remove all vehicles and other personal belongings from the property immediately” or they’d be served with a no trespass notice.
Here's the status of COVID-19 policies, 5 years later

2 months ago | pacificlegal.org | Nicole W.C. Yeatman

The COVID-19 pandemic happened “gradually and then suddenly,” to steal from Hemingway. In early 2020, the U.S. Commerce Secretary optimistically predicted that the coronavirus outbreak in China would “help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America.” New York City’s health commissioner encouraged New Yorkers “to go about their everyday lives.” A doctor wrote a Los Angeles Times op-ed discouraging masks.
Courts' System for Issuing Preliminary Relief Is Broken

Mar 7, 2025 | pacificlegal.org | Josh Robbins

Two federal district courts determined in a single week that the Office of Management and Budget’s federal funding freeze had to be put on hold while the claims were resolved. The courts showed no hesitation in wading into a political dispute between Congress and the president. Yet every day, individual US citizens and small businesses are denied the same kind of preliminary relief when they present their legal challenges to government action.
Wall Street Journal: DOJ Abuses Its Authority in the Adams Case

Mar 4, 2025 | pacificlegal.org | Josh Robbins

In their Feb. 19 op-ed “Precedents for the Eric Adams Case,” James Copland and Rafael Mangual detail the Justice Department’s decadeslong practice of extracting behavior-altering agreements from defendants in exchange for deferring or declining prosecution. But their examples are exclusively of private citizens or corporations. When the defendant is the mayor of New York and the agreement involves public policy, the practice raises serious constitutional questions.
National Review: Progressives Shouldn’t Care About Separation of Powers Only When Trump Is President

Mar 4, 2025 | pacificlegal.org | Josh Robbins

The Trump administration is racking up injunctions from federal courts, halting its efforts to shrink the federal government. From the funding freeze to the federal worker buyout, judges have put many of the administration’s early executive actions on hold.
Trump Administration's attempt to bring political accountability to agency adjudication

Mar 3, 2025 | pacificlegal.org | Josh Robbins

The firing of federal workers has been a controversial topic since President Donald Trump began his second term in January. That controversy is warranted. The loss of a job is a difficult event for anyone who faces it. But there is a second reason these firings of government workers have caught everyone’s attention. Firing employees and officers of the Executive Branch is a critical tool of presidential control.